So far so good! Beautiful and colorful restaurant! The servers were great. Friendly and attentive. The food was real good. Not dry, lots of flavor, and plenty of food. I liked this place and will visit them again. You should too and let me know ow what you think. read more

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The food is delicious. The place is clean and inviting. Usually the service is great but today I was surprised. I walked in around 5 pm. As the server passes by be he says, One! I said yes. He keeps walking without saying a word, I followed. He tosses the menu on a table and keeps walking. I stood there until he stop at a table he was serving that was already seated. I asked, this table? He said yes, not a word more. I sat down at a table that was so unstable. I don't think I would even be able to put a drink down on it. I got up and sat myself at another table. I decided I'm not going to let him ruin my dinner and just moved on. Ordered my drink and food at the same to just to get it over with. I didn't want to deal with him more than I had to. read more

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We go to El Taps at least once a week, the service is always great and the food is always good, my favorite is the Pollo Sinaloa, it's very tasty ! That's why they've been in business this long, good job Jose and staff,and I love the music playing and it's decorated just like the restaurants in Mexico...love it ! read more

Go there often. Food and service are always good. Pay in cash to avoid a card fee.

Terrible service!! Far LESS than average food. Nothing was warm enough. Chips were all broken but cheese dip was decent. That's the best I can say about this place read more

Food was cold and bland. Service was horrible! Other servers seem to be working hard but our guy was worthless. We were charged well over $10 more than we should have been and was denied an itemized receipt when I asked for one. Ive gone here for over 20 years but never again. Don't cheat your loyal customers! read more

Worst food & customer service we have experienced in a very long time. My food came out with something I didn't order. After 15 minutes a waitress came to check on us & when I told her I didn't get what I had ordered she argued with me! Claimed I was in the wrong. Worst yet, we sat another 20 min. & my correct dish never arrived. We walked to the cash register & the waitress was standing there. I asked for my food & she acted annoyed & said "I didn't order it." Then she complained to the cashier in Spanish. Guess what?? I speak Spanish!! Dios Mio!!! We will NEVER be going back!!! read more

If you want store bought guacamole and hot sauce, visit here. This place is as authentic as Taco Bell but twice as expensive. Their customer service is also nonexistent. read more

I'm from out of town and not familiar with this restaurant. Ordered a burrito meal that comes with rice and beans. The burrito was the smallest I have ever seen for $11.50. Just ground up dry meat in a very small flour Tortilla, nothing else, not even cilantro. To their credit they added a bag of Tortilla chips...btw this was a carry out and I was not going back. Shuda went to Kelly's for a real burrito. read more

Nice late lunch after a two hour car ride. Huge menu take out or dinner in. My wife had enchiladas Verde and I had the Tapatio tortilla special, chicken, beef and shrimp. Meals come with rice and refried beans, mildly seasoned. Great service, drinks up quick and they have beer or wine besides Pepsi fountain drinks. Two big meals with drinks reasonably priced. Not as spicy and seasoned as some of the other places I've been, but good food. Quantity of food was great. We'll be back with more family sometime. read more

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My wife and I visited El Tapatio last night for dinner. I have to say, we were both disappointed in the tea; it was more like colored water with a little hint of flavor that was barely detectable. The food, however, was amazing. The service was also top notch! We will both definitely be visiting again! Quickly became our favorite restaurant. read more

Good food. We eat there often. We love the fajita nachos and margaritas. Service is great and food is quickly served

The food has absolutely no flavor. Now they've added the 3% rule on all debit and credit purchases

Highly disappointed, Had a combination dinner taco tostada enchilada. Simple right How can you messed that up. Everything made with plain ground up Burger, Even the tostada ( beans lettuce tomato ) Same greasy Burger Other than the beans and rice it was like having a maid rite Burger read more

Smells like bleach and ammonia, totally gross. when i asked if they could stop cleaning while we were eating they ignored me. This was only 8:00 on a saturday, they should not be cleaning while people are eating. Very rude and bad service. Lost appetite due to smell but still had to pay for it. Never going back, waste of money. Go somewhere else, plenty of better places to go. read more

Food is ok,I don't feel like it's very traditional. The rice is always dry and has no flavor, tried their steak tacos and the steak was bland. Wait staff is always slow, even with no one else in the restaurant it still takes 30 minutes while we watch our waiter eat his lunch across the restaurant from us instead of waiting on us. There are at least 3 much better Mexican restaurants in the area that are more authentic, I suggest you visit ones of those if you are looking for good authentic Mexican food. read more

Comin from the east suburbs never thought they had such good Mexican food out west but this place proved me I was wrong. As I walked in the Banda music was jammin which made the atmosphere original to the place. Humble, clean, well decorated place. waiters were friendly helpful and efficient. I had the sizzling chicken fajitas which came with a huge side plate of frijoles, arroz salad with sour cream and avocado everything had that authentic Mexican flavor. My friend had the pollo dinner which was just perfect also. I'm definitely going back and next time I will try the enchiladas n of course I really recommend this place! read more

El Tapatio - the outside of a restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Rock Falls, Illinois

The food is authentic Mexican food. They even serve tongue here, and tons of other things that are in Spanish that I have to have to have my friends interpret for me. The service is hit and miss though. Sometimes it's fine, but other times it takes forever. I've waited over five min for them to even acknowledge me in the "please wait to be seated" area when they weren't even busy. There have also been times where they don't refill my drinks in a timely manner, again, when they were not even busy. read more

Food was good. Service was not. Took 45 minuets to get 6 tacos that is crazy. Was not that busy either. Tacos were good but not that good. Good luck with this place. If you have time to burn maybe otherwise be ready to wait read more

Group went for lunch. Quick, friendly, knowledgeable service. Chips and salsa are delicious. Food is good standard Mexican restaurant large menu type. For most part doesn't matter what you order it all tastes similar. Nothing stands out as great but everything is good. Good place to visit occasionally with a group. read more

Service was great, my food came out quickly and correctly. Prices were fair and portions were huge. Everything was excellent.

I ordered the taco salad with shrimp. The shrimp was void of flavor and room temperature making the dish rather terrible. My wife's food (chimichanga) was very forgettable and left no want to have more. My MIL's burrito had sub par meat, and there was a hair in the salsa. The bathrooms were dirty and left the four women I was with disgusted. read more

Muy Bueno! I'm Cuban and I love going here. They have great Mexican food and I highly reccomend the tapatio hot sauce I buy it all the time at Wal-Mart. read more

Worth the drive even from Rockford, by far our most fav Mexican food hangout. Great food and wonderful people. So glad its between parents home in Iowa and our home in Rockford!!! We plan our drive to and from to coincide with meals read more

Food was excellent. Just make sure you have a fork and napkins so you can eat it , if your getting it to go

Excellent choice for Mexican food. The service is great, the food is phenomenal. I would consider El Tap the #1 Mexican restaurant in the Sauk Valley area. A personal recommendation is the Alan's Special - seasoned chicken on a bed of rice, all of which is covered in their signature queso sauce. read more

I'm from out of town and ordered some takeout from here. Had great service and delicious fajitas! I couldn't believe how much food I got for the price as well. Not to mention the entertainment by guitar and singing during my small wait at the restaurant. All said and done I was a super satisfied customer. read more

Authentic prep and ingredients. Huge menu. Our family had fajita nachos, tacos, enchiladas, chalupa. The only complaint was the tacos got rolled too tightly in the foil. Waaaay better than fast food if you have the time. read more

Went for lunch on Cinco de Mayo, it was lunch & they weren't real busy. Wait staff was on pony & very accommodating. Loved their salsa, it had a bit of kick to it. read more

Pretty good. I got carry out a steak burrito with beans and rice and chips with queso and salsa. It was very tasty, service was nice. The order right and fairly quick for walking up. It was about 12 dollars and change. Lots of the usual taqueria fare so you can't go wrong. Give them a try. I will be going back for sure. read more

Usually we eat in but this time we decided to do carryout. Very disappointed in our orders, quality poor! This surprises me because we always enjoyed our food there. read more

Hands down the best and most authentic Mexican Restaurant in the sterling rock falls area. I suggest getting the molcajete. It comes out in a cast iron bowl with a pigs face on it. In the bowl is strips of beef, chicken, shrimp, green peppers, onions and tomatoes. Then there's red sauce and white shredded Mexican cheese. On top is a thin slice of steak whit sauce and cheese. It comes with rice, beans, Mexican salad and choice of tortillas. Two people can share this monster meal. You get your money's worth no matter the meal you chose. read more

I love this place! Amazing food, nice waiters and if you want authentic Mexican this place blows others outta the water!!!! ***** awesome!!!!! read more

As much as I wish I could say different, El Tap of Clinton is way better than El Tap in Rock Falls. Better atmosphere, literally twice the amount of food for same order,... I have no problem now giving my business to Clinton, and will continue to do so if Rock Falls remains the same as it was if they ever decide to open back up after the "accidental" kitchen fire. Hopefully big changes coming with as long as it's taking. read more

The real deal. Authentic and excellent food at a fair price. We ordered a shrimp meal, I forgot the name of it but it was very very good.

It's just fucking unbelievable... Plain and simple. It's the best Mexican around and can't be beat... Personally it has a homey feeling to it and it has classic Mexican music always going in the background. Just priceless. read more